Education bills' pace may slow as they reach Senate

Baton Rouge -- Gov. Bobby Jindal's education bills have been sprinting through the Louisiana Legislature so far, but they could be headed for a slowdown as they approach the final stretch. A day after the House passed amended versions of the two key bills in the governor's package during a marathon session, senators said it may take at least a week before those versions of the legislation even make it to the floor of the upper chamber.

The amended versions of the bills, which establish a statewide voucher and charter school program and significantly alter the way schools handle teacher tenure and employment, won't reach the Senate Education Committee before Thursday, Senate President John Alario said, potentially delaying the final vote by the full Senate until the following week.

That Senate committee has already approved the original versions of both bills and committee Chairman Conrad Appel, R-Metairie, said he is largely comfortable with the amendments added by the House.

"I'm guardedly optimistic that we have resolved a large number of objections," Appel said.

The two bills were adopted by the House after a session that ran from 9 a.m. Thursday until early Friday. House Bill 974 by Rep. Steve Carter, R-Baton Rouge, which establishes new employment rules for teachers, was approved by a 64-40 vote, and House Bill 976, which would expand charter schools and establish a statewide private school tuition voucher program paid for out of the financing formula established for public schools was passed, 61-42. In each case, as many as a dozen members from each party switched sides.

The two bills are anchors of an ambitious agenda that Jindal pitches as a way to improve student performance and, in turn, economic opportunities and overall quality of life in Louisiana. The tenure changes have drawn the ire of teachers associations and rank-and-file educators, who accuse the Republican chief executive of a frontal assault on public education, classroom teachers in particular.

But Jindal's proposals also have stirred passions among the burgeoning school-choice movement and garnered testimony from parents of students in schools that are deemed academically unacceptable under the state's accountability system.

Little intensity was present as lawmakers wrapped up a four-hour debate on the tenure bill Friday at 12:41 a.m.

The general premise of the bill is that tenure should be much harder to achieve and that job protection and salary structure should be tied directly to the developing teacher evaluation system -- approved during Jindal's first term but not fully implemented -- that turns on student test scores and other metrics. The bill also generally empowers superintendents in personnel decisions and changes due process considerations to allow teacher dismissals before hearings. Among the provisions:

Employment decisions -- hiring, evaluations that determine tenure status, layoff plans -- would shift from school boards to superintendents and principals. The evaluations include reviews by principals and performance measures by a teacher's students. Teachers are rated highly effective, effective or ineffective.

Teachers hired after July 1, 2012, would have to be rated "highly effective" under the evaluation system for five out of six years in order to acquire tenure. The terms were amended from Jindal's initial proposal: five consecutive years of "highly effective" status. Currently tenured teachers won the protection after three years of being rehired by their school systems.

Any teacher, including those who already have tenure, would lose the protected status upon being rated "ineffective," giving superintendents the power to fire them immediately. Teachers would have the right to appeal. Teachers could reacquire tenure under the same five-year "highly effective" standard applied to new hires.

As they have since marathon committee hearings last week, Democrats lambasted the process that has led to quick House passage of such significant measures. The session has finished its second week and can run through June 4. The effective date on the bills is the same regardless of when they reach Jindal's desk, but the governor has unapologetically demanded swift action.

Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin, said, "We had amendments today where the authors didn't even know what was in them. ... When we finish here, the press is going to read these bills and tell us what we did."

Carter said the schedule -- unprecedented in recent years, according to House employees -- is justified given the subject matter.

Alario, R-Westwego, said Friday that he felt the process had been fair.

"I think the democratic process is working through this whole system, I'm happy to see the members of the House had a great deal of input and debate on the issue," Alario said.

Among the changes made to the voucher bill are amendments that require students in D and F schools to be given priority for seats in nonpublic schools over students in C schools, who are also eligible for the program, and a prohibition against the use of locally approved taxes to pay for the plan. Appel said he's asked for clarification on the latter amendment, since "philosophically, I believe the dollar follows the child. The funds that are for the education of children should go where the children are educated."

Appel said he also expects there to be other attempts to change the bills once they hits the Senate floor.

"We're going to get some more amendments, I'm sure; those are the complaints and issues I've heard from my peers," Appel said. "Will there be others? Absolutely. Will they be accepted? I don't know."